Betrayed. I should have guessed. I knew she wouldn’t just let it go. She damn well could have called that meeting with her little friends off…but she didn’t. She thinks that I’m the one that betrayed his own people? Last I knew, I didn’t condemn anyone to the only thing worse than death – Imperial imprisonment.

Well, maybe I did, indirectly, but still. I didn’t go up to the Imperial governor and say “howdy, I’d like to rat out my friends.” But she did. Apparently she doesn't even consider me a friend anymore. What did I ever do to her? Just because I wouldn’t be her godsdamned slave, she brands me “needs to die?”

If anything, she was only ruining herself and the whole point of the Resistance. Whatever deal she made with the Empire, it’ll turn around to blow her precious little head off. I hope it will.

Nevin flexed his neck up as far as his bound arms to the pole would allow. There wasn’t much freedom of motion, but he couldn’t really see what was happening outside anyway. It was about twenty minutes after Eross had presented them like a prize to the Imperial squadron.

The only thing he could see of the outside world was through a small centimeter of separation between the flaps of the tent. He saw the army troopers on the far side of the camp standing in file, but he couldn’t see Val or the Sergeant among them.

Worse still, he had no idea where Salla was. Prudently, they had separated the two. He guessed she was in one of the tents nearby, but there were many tents nearby.

His arm contracted in reaction to a sudden touch on his skin. Nevin attempted to bend his neck around to see what was behind him, but he could only get the glimpse of some brown hair in his peripheral vision. “Who’re you?” He demanded.

“Shh!” Came a quiet voice. “Keep it down.” It had just a trace of an accent and no difficulty speaking Basic, meaning whoever was in here with him probably came from New Coronet like Nevin, in comparison to someone like Val that came from a region where less Basic was spoken.

Nevin sighed slightly and lowered his voice. “Who are you?”

“Dschak Streiter,” He said, moving around the front of the prisoner. He was a little shorter than Nevin, maybe just under twenty-years old, and his dark jade, sapphire-rimmed eyes were defining. Antilles didn’t recognize him – understandable for being separated from this camp for so long - , so he doubted this man could have known who Nevin was.

Nevin once again attempted to turn his head to follow Streiter’s movements, and soon found that his left hand was free of the binders. Surprised, Nevin took his arm and began undoing the remaining lock, but discovered Dschak had already opened it. “I guess it would be crazy for me to think Val ordered you to let me out, and that was all a show back there?”

“It’d be,” he confirmed, kneeling down on his left leg to face Nevin. “She’s serious about this bullshit,” Streiter informed, a grave look over his dirty face. “No one but her and Arnolt knew about this deal with the Imperials. I think it’s stupid.”

Nevin grinned as he rubbed the red marks where the binders were on his wrists. “I tend to agree.”

He returned the smirk, watching Antilles as he stood to his feet. “I was hoping the Rebels would help us, not cause us to make arrangements with the Imps.” Streiter stated as he handed a blaster and a vibroknife to Nevin.

“Me too,” The naval officer replied as he looked to peak out at the lines of troopers. Still nothing, but he could now see Eross and the Imperial sergeant regarding each other. “I wanted this to somehow help you guys too,”

The young man watched and nodded in agreement. “I knew you were one of us when I first saw you.”

Nevin once again smiled. “Thanks. Now,” he said, once again looking out to the main tent. “How many of you think like us?”

“Against the Empire?”

“Yeah.”

“Not many,” he answered in a regretful tone. “A lot of them just follow Val blindly. She’s a good at fighting, but horrible otherwise.”

Sounds about right, Nevin mused to himself. “Right,” he paused before turning back to face Dschak. “You know where they took the other one that was with me? The woman?”

His words were cut off as a sudden eruption of blaster fire began. It wasn’t long before the entire area was filled with the sounds of war, only amplified by the consequential echoing across the densely packed trees.

Taking his new blaster in hand, Nevin stepped out of the tent, immediately running behind a tree for cover. Dschak followed closely behind as Antilles assessed the situation. The Imperials had opened fire, and several Resistance fighters had taken positions throughout the forest, making them difficult targets for the Empire to spear.

He only had one objective – to find Salla. After that, they needed to get out of here. It would be nice to find the data chip, but that was out of the question now. “Where is she?” Nevin yelled to Dschak as he came up behind him.

“Come on!” Streiter yelled as he charged behind the thick trees, taking them around the camp away from the majority of the crossfire. Nearing a tent on the far side of the area, they could see the Imperials inside the camp scrambling for cover around the tents. Peacekeeping forces were stupid, but not that stupid. Something was up.

Shrugging it off, Nevin pushed aside the flap as Dschak stood guard. He found Salla in much the same manner as he was before – bound to a pole in the center of the tent – but she also had a gag in her mouth. Undoubtedly, it was because the guards were sick of hearing her complain. He took it out.

The first thing he was greeted by was a wad of spit in his face. “You bastard! Get away from me,” Salla commanded, angry. What for? Nevin didn’t know. He’d done nothing wrong, and he didn’t understand why in the worlds she was suddenly hating him with her soul.

He wiped it onto her shirt, returning her angst. “Shut up!” He said as he maneuvered to work on her binders.

“This is all your fault,” Salla insisted.

“Should have just left you,” Nevin muttered to himself. On one hand, it would be quite good to do away with Salla’s constant bitching just because he had accidentally had to deal with an old girlfriend. On the other hand, she would make a perfect soap holo-opera actor, and would need to get off planet to do that. “My fault?” He demanded.

“If you wouldn’t have let Nevin Junior do all the talking, that whore wouldn’t have betrayed us,” Salla insisted, a fire in her eyes. She truly thought he would cheat on her with Val. Val was cold embers. Nothing more. “She sucked you right back in and you fell for it!”

“…what did I do?” Nevin madly growled as he literally ripped the now-open binder off of Salla’s left wrist. “I didn’t do anything!”

Salla recoiled away from him as far as the chains allowed. “OW! Be careful!”

Nevin ignored her. She was the most wonderful thing in his life, he loved her, but she was annoying as all fracking hell. He moved on to her other cuff, determined to get out of this tent and off this planet altogether.

“What were you trying to pull with her, anyway?” Salla asked deliberately.

“I was trying to get the information we came here for!” Nevin yelled back as the fire ensued outside. The action was getting closer and closer to them in the past few seconds, and soon it would be right atop of them.

“By letting her cop a feel?” Salla rattled. “The only one picking up information was her!”

“How was I supposed to know?” Nevin asked, getting closer to his limit. “It’s not my fault she likes my dick,” he informed bluntly, stuffing the desire to smile deep inside of him.

Salla, now free, clenched her jaw tightly and backed away from him and the pole. “No, but you only gave into her.”

“Yeah, cause I really dropped my pants and yelled, ‘take me!’”

“Just shut up,” The woman said in disgust. “I’m done with this conversation, I’ll blow her head off myself.”

“That’s why you’re not getting a blaster,” Nevin reminded with a satisified gleam in his eye as he rose to his feet, moving towards the exit of the abode.

“then why the hell should I go with you?” Salla resisted.

“Just come on!” He said, on the verge of snapping. He ground his teeth and walked out.

“Answer me!”

“We need to get back to Denon,” he said as he took a look at the carnage outside. It was getting worse, with only six Imperials left. The only reason that so many were still alive was because shots had to be carefully aimed, or the entire camp might get set afire. “and I’m not letting you here.”

“At least give me a weapon,” she pleaded. “Who knows what’s out there and you’re gonna have me go out there unarmed? You’re insane.”

Nevin turned around to see her, studying her for a moment. Unless she was truly insane, he figured he could trust her with something minor. He took Dschak’s vibroknife out and handed it to her. She smiled with a fiendish look in her eye. “It’ll do. I can see her blood on it now.”

Nevin rolled his eyes and quickly moved out of the tent as several laser bolts ripped through the thin tent. Luckily, it didn’t set on fire, but it was evident that this area was no longer safe. Dschak was waiting, firing at what Imperials he could. He knocked another one down by the time the three began to move again.

One thing Nevin noticed was several Resistance fighters were being cut down by a flash of thin blue light. It was coming from farther into the forest – it wouldn’t be hard to believe that the Imperials had brought more reinforcements. They had to get out of there, as soon as possible.

He kept moving until one particular body caught his eye. Its long hair was thrown about its head, a red spot in the center of its torso. Val. And she was still breathing.

Nevin halted right in his tracks, the other two not immediately seeing as to what at he was looking.

Valia had betrayed him, given him nothing but grief since he arrived, and had caused this whole conflict. She was stupid and she was quickly turning into a dictator. However, she was also the woman that had nurtured and loved him –both like a mother, a friend and then a girlfriend – since before he could remember accurately. If she was left here, she would be captured or killed. He couldn’t let that happen to her.

But before he could move to save her, the arrogant Imperial sergeant found himself in front of Nevin. The officer had his blaster raised, aiming right between Nevin’s eyes. “Don’t move, you Rebel scum.”

Salla quickly reacted by hurling her vibroblade at the man. The aim was true, but it reflected like flimsie off of the man’s issued armor. “You crazy bitch!” He yelled, staggering back slightly from the kinetic energy transferred.

Fortunately, Dschak was still following them. He gunned down the Sergeant before the Imperial could fire. Nevin smiled in relief and nodded towards him. “Now, yo-you two keep going,” Nevin said, having made up his mind about Val.

“You’re coming with,” Salla insisted.

“I am,” Nevin reassured. “But not yet,” then he took off towards the half-conscious woman, into the stream of blaster bolts. He heard Salla call out his name, but he was too busy avoiding the near bolts. After a few seconds, he reached her, and was protected by the large tent.

He gazed down at her. Val’s eyes weren’t open. That was a good thing, since she would probably command him to leave her there to die. Defeat in battle, especially in a decision that was her own, was almost worse than death for a Mantellian.

Within a few moments, Dschak had arrived, having given one of his blasters to Salla who was now retreating towards the edge of the camp. “Need a hand?”

“I thought you said she was stupid.”

“She’s still one of us,” he said before grabbing her by one of her shoulders. Nevin followed suit and they both were off to the edge of camp as a grenade took out several brave Resistance fighters.

“You went back for…her?” Salla asked, disillusioned, but now realizing the most imperative thing was for them to escape.

“She still has the information we were-were looking for,” Nevin stuttered, declaring that true fact. However, it was not the reason he retrieved her. Salla would raise a storm again if he told her he did it because he cared for her.

Nevin glared at her and gestured her forward with his free arm. “Come on!” Salla pointed her blaster at the woman between the two men, as if she was struggling whether to kill her or not, then kept moving. Several other Imperials were retreating, being chased by Arnolt, but Nevin did not pursue.

They made their way out of the camp as fast as possible. Something shiny caught Nevin’s eye, however. There were great masses of metal, moving methodically through the camp, having just appeared through the trees. They were as tall as a man, and had glowing red photoreceptors in the center of their solid, armored heads. Their pistons moved, stronger than any possible human, crushing dead bodies and destroying anything in their way. What was this? It was a horrible sight to see, and there were at least fifteen of them. He nearly lost grip of Val as he observed them.

Whatever it was, no one wanted to wait. They took off, even faster, through the forests, still supporting Val. Nevin hoped that he wouldn’t get them all killed by saving his friend. They could see the bulky Arnolt running towards them.

Arnolt eventually caught up to them, inquiring about Val. “Give her to me,” he said in his resounding voice, not questioning about why Nevin and Salla were free for the moment. He had only one concern. “I’ll get her to safety.”

“I think we have better chances together,” Dschak put forth.

However, there was no more discussion. Before Arnolt could respond, one of the technological beasts had emerged from a tree behind them. It had followed them! It brought its repeating blaster around, spraying triangle of fury across the whole group. Nevin, Dschak and Salla all moved to cover, but Arnolt was hit.

He yelled out in pain, but fired with a heavy rifle at the droid’s gun. It shattered, and the droid stopped to recalculate. Nevin began to move out, but the droid had already exacted its revenge in super-human movements. It lurched forward and set a hard iron fist into Arnolt. It didn’t stop at his skin – it literally went THROUGH him. He lifted the crying man up and threw him, ironically maintaining a grip on his heart.

Salla screamed and took off, then the droid assessed its new threat and through its only weapon that could hit her – the heart. The other two men took off behind Salla, Nevin now supporting Val entirely as Dschak fired a few rounds from his pistol. It did nothing.

The droid kept running after them, gaining extremely fast.

Then there was an explosion, and it was over. The droid’s various parts scattered through the air, landing all around them. For a moment, the remnants of its torso lunged forward, but then it lost power and became a heap of nothing more than metal.

Dschak traced to where it had walked, and saw its bane. “Landmine,” he said in relief.

“Maybe we’re a little more lucky than you think,” Nevin quipped to Salla.

They continued on towards New Coronet. Whatever had just attacked them, the Alliance needed to have the information as soon as possible._________________

Last edited by Nevin Antilles on Sun, July 30th 2006 06:55am; edited 3 times in total

"Well hello!" Neo said, his voice far louder and deeper than it usually was. His face twisted into a wide smile and he thrust out his hand to the young port authority that strode up the ramp. This sudden greeting caught the boy by surprise and nearly caused him to trip. Neo had to force himself not to sigh as he continued speaking. "I am Captain Simmons of the Lanteax and I have to say, I am so very excited to be here today! Such a cultural world, Ord Mantell, very unique. How may I be of service to you?" "Simmons'" smile widened and he bowed grandly when the boy didn't shake hands, as if to the king of a rich world.

The authority finally managed to speak. "Well sir, um, I'd like to take a look at your, uh, crew and cargo manifest, as well as your identification codes and shipping license." He stood, waiting for Simmons' reply.

"Of course, of course, my dear boy. Mustn't keep the authorities waiting! You there!" Simmons shouted to JL-432, "Grif". "Get this young lad the crew and cargo manifests! And tell your brothers to get up here with their IDs quick-quick! Snap to it, boy!" He turned to the official and smiled. "Picked them up in Coronet, the poor lads. They were looking for work and I offered them a chance to travel through the stars. They, of course, were only too happy to-"

"I'm sorry, sir, but can I see your ID and license while we're waiting?"

"Of course, of course. Here you are!" Simmons handed the man a pair of datacards, which he quickly slid through the reader on his datapad and looked through before nodding. "Everything seems to be in order." Grif walked into the hold with his three "brothers" and each held out their IDs for the official. He scanned and read each one before looking up at Simmons. "Now, I'd like to see your cargo manifests." Simmons handed him the card, which he looked at and nodded again. "Well, captain, everything seems to be fine here."

"Thank you, thank you, my boy. I imagine I'll be seeing you again when we leave?" He smiled, showing all of his teeth to the boy. He seemed to lose his voice for a moment then shook his head. "I'm sorry, no, I'm just here taking someone else's place while they're ill." He hurried down the ramp, and Neo sighed. He signaled to JL-432 and the stormtroopers followed him to the loading bay, where an open-topped speeder was waiting. Lowering the cargo ramp, the five entered the speeder and left the ship, headed for the town official's office._________________Colonel Neo Sarkkas, Internal Security Bureau146,900 Credits

Sith Officer: Yeah, be prepared! We'll be prepared. Uh, for what?
Malak: For the death of Revan!
Sith Officer: Why, is he sick?
Malak: *force grip* No, fool. We're going to kill him. And Bastila too.
Karath: Great idea! Who needs a Sith Lord?
Two Officers: *prance around Karath* No Lord, no Lord,lalalalalala!
Malak: IDIOTS! *blasts the two prancers with lightning* There will be a Sith Lord!

Neo smirked slightly as he noticed the troopers staring over the edges of the landspeeder, watching warily all around them. "We're still in Imperial space, JL-432. I doubt anyone would be so bold as to try and sharpshoot us." The soldier looked up and nodded, but kept his eyes on the horizon. Neo sighed. Some things just couldn't be unlearned, no matter how hard you tried.

As they pulled up to the security offices, Neo took a quick look around. For a police station, it was pretty well decorated. He snorted. These Mid Rim folks spent too much time and credits on decor instead of efficiency. Their loss. He signaled to the stormtroopers and stood up out of the landspeeder, making sure to slide his blaster out of his sleeve and into his coat pocket. Togethor with the stormtroopers, he marched into the offices, shoulders wide and long strides.

He threw open the double doors with both hands, smiling broadly as he strode up to the secretary's desk. He leaned on the edge and grinned. "Hello, hello, hello my lady. Tell me, is the director free for a moment?" The secretary, a good-looking human female in her twenties, jumped and began flipping through files. "Um, he's in a meeting right now, but maybe I can schedule an appointment sometime later this week-"

"Splendid. Mind pointing the way to the 'freshers?" The secretary pointed to her left, at a small door beside the desk. Neo brushed past the desk, ignored the door to the 'freshers, and entered the long hall that led to the only other door in the building. He shouldered it open and walked inside. Sitting at an oval-shaped table were about a dozen security officials and the director himself. Everyone looked up at the oddly-dressed man who had rudely burst into their meeting. Neo gave a small half-grin. "So sorry, thought this was the refreshers. Well, as long as I'm here, director, may I have a word with you?" The man gaped at the bold intruder, then held up a hand to seat one of the officers who had stood. "Don't worry Kel, I won't be long." Neo's smile widened, and he gestured to the door to the man's office. He opened it and let the man inside, then followed.

The director whirled on him. "All right, who the fierfek are you, and why shouldn't I through you in the brig for obstruction?" Neo's smile faded. He reached up and pulled off his hairpiece, exposing his real hair. Next he pulled off the massive coat and cape, showing his slick black bodysuit, and the blaster holstered at his waist. He reached in the suit's only pocket and withdrew his actual ID. Holding it up, he spoke. "Colonel Neo Sarkkas, Internal Security Bureau. I'm here to take charge of your investigation, Director." Neo emphasized the man's title to make him understand that he had absolutely no say in the matter. Neo pushed past the director and sat in his seat. Turning to face him, he narrowed his eyes. "As of now, I am in full charge fo this investigation. Any and all information, evidence, and leads will be reported to me, and your officers will report directly to me." He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "Any questions?"_________________Colonel Neo Sarkkas, Internal Security Bureau146,900 Credits

Sith Officer: Yeah, be prepared! We'll be prepared. Uh, for what?
Malak: For the death of Revan!
Sith Officer: Why, is he sick?
Malak: *force grip* No, fool. We're going to kill him. And Bastila too.
Karath: Great idea! Who needs a Sith Lord?
Two Officers: *prance around Karath* No Lord, no Lord,lalalalalala!
Malak: IDIOTS! *blasts the two prancers with lightning* There will be a Sith Lord!